Hope Hernandez

Mrs. Hope Hernandez of Redlands, CA passed away on January 17, 2021 at the age of 98.
She was born on September 5th, 1922, in the community of East Highland, CA to Julian and Ruth Mendoza. Her mother died when she was an infant and she was raised by her two aunts in El Paso, TX. She returned to East Highland as a young girl and attended school there. She met her husband, Joe, at local roller skating hangout and they eventually they eloped on May 10, 1942.
Hope, Joe and their growing family, lived in East Highland, San Bernardino and Redlands before building a home on a few acres of orange groves between Redlands and Loma Linda. On "Rancho Hernandez" they grew various fruit trees and raised an assortment of farm animals. Most visitors never left her home without a bag of fresh seasonal fruit like Oranges, Grapefruit, Figs, Avocados, or Kumquats.
As a young woman, Hope worked for a local family as a nanny and housekeeper until she became a homemaker as her family started to grow. Later in her life, Hope worked for more than 20 years as a teachers assistant at Cram and Mission Elementary Schools in Redlands, CA. She touched countless childrens lives with her zany antics and motherly ways. Many of her Mission School pupils will remember the annual walking field trip to the Bracken Bird Farm followed by a picnic her large front yard across the street.
She was a lifelong member of St. John Bosco Catholic Church in East Highland, CA. As a girl, Hope played for the church softball team and later in life she enjoyed being part of the church sewing circle. The annual fiestas at the church were one of the things she looked forward to the most.
Hope loved to have visits from family and friends. There was always a set of welcoming lawn chairs, arranged in a half circle, under the huge walnut tree in her front yard, or the music of Tommy Dorsey or Luis Miguel playing in the large screened patio in her back yard. Anyone who visited her, could expect an offering of donuts or Mexican sweet bread once they walked through the door. There was always a hot pot on her stove, and she offered everyone a plate of her scratch prepared food with homemade beans and rice.
Hope was known to all to be the life of the party and constantly held gatherings at her home. Her annual Easter Egg Hunts were open to everyone and there would often be baby chicks for the children to play with. She had Halloween parties to celebrate her son Toms birthday and loved to dress in her homemade costumes. Her Christmas Eve parties packed the house with family, friends, food and laughter. Anyone who shared any amount of time with her would have memories of her laughing, singing and dancing. She could never contain her constant state of joy and her passion for life.
Above all, Hope will always be remembered for being a mom and grandma. Not only a mother to her own children, she opened her home to friends of her children and foreign exchange students from Japan. She considered all of them to be her kids. They were all initiated into the family by learning, like all her grandchildren, to make homemade tortillas on the butcher-block island in her kitchen. Children loved her and she loved every child she met.
Hope was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Joe Hernandez, and her Daughter, Kathy Landsaw. She is survived by five children, Thomas Hernandez (Sissy), Michael Hernandez (Lilly), Christina Kunstler (Rick), Richard Hernandez, Lori Sylvester; 14 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; a great-great-grandchild; and countless people who crossed her path which she considered part of her family.
She will be laid to rest next to her husband at Hillside Cemetery in Redlands, California in a private ceremony. The family looks forward to having a celebration of her life to be held on a sunny day and in her back yard on a date that is more appropriate.

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